1. Field of Invention
The invention is directed to sealing devices for isolating an annulus of an open-hole or cased oil, gas, and/or water wellbore and, in particular, to electronically set and retrievable sealing devices for use in open-hole formations that are capable of being electronically inflated and deflated.
2. Description of Art
Packers for isolating intervals and/or sealing the annulus of wellbores are known in the art. For example, some packers include an expandable elastomeric sealing element such as a rubber casing or balloon. These types of packers expand and, thus, seal to the inner wall surface of a wellbore by pumping a fluid into the rubber casing to expand the rubber casing into contact with the wellbore.
Some of these types of packers also include a swellable material within the rubber casing so that the swellable material, and not the fluid pressure itself, inflates the rubber casing. In these packers, the swellable material is contacted by hydraulic fluid or other fluid so that the swellable materials absorb the fluid and expand. In one type of these packers, for example, hydraulic fluid is pumped down a string of tubing having the packer secured thereto. The hydraulic fluid travels down the bore of the string of tubing and through a port that is in fluid communication with an inner cavity of the rubber casing. Swellable materials disposed within the rubber casing are contacted by the hydraulic fluid. As a result, the swellable materials absorb the fluid and expand. As the swellable materials expand and hydraulic fluid is pumped into the rubber casing, the rubber casing expands to seal the wellbore. After expansion, hydraulic fluid pressure is decreased and the rubber casing remains held in the expanded position solely by the swellable materials having absorbed the fluid.
Other packers are formed of an elastomeric material that is compressed or otherwise forced into the inner wall surface of the wellbore such as by expanding casing or axially compressing the elastomeric material that is disposed along an outer wall surface of the packer assembly.